Safaricom Shareholders To Get Ksh 18 Billion In Interim Dividends

Telecommunications giant Safaricom is set to pay 18 billion shillings as interim dividends to shareholders, an equivalent to 0.45 shillings per share to be paid about or on March 31, 2021.

Safaricom’s net profit in the half-year ended September dropped six percent to 33 billion shillings due to the removal of fees on M-Pesa transactions of up to 1,000 shillings. The free transaction has now been removed and the profits are expected to spike.

“This is in recognition of the company’s solid half-year performance and to support our shareholders during these difficult economic times occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Safaricom’s CEO Mr. Peter Ndegwa.

The National Treasury is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the surprise dividend announcement and will get a gross payout of 6.3 billion shillings for its 35 percent stake in the country’s most profitable firm. Multinationals Vodacom Group Limited and Vodafone Group Plc will share a gross payout of 7.2 billion shillings for their combined 40 percent interest in the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed company.

During the week, Kenyan mobile payment brand M-PESA has been voted Kenya’s leading SUPERBRAND, ahead of parent company Safaricom, which placed second.

The ranking now paces the MPESA as an integral and essential to the functioning of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This comes at a time when the COVID19 pandemic has hit this segment of the economy the hardest.

At the same time, Safaricom announced the launch of an M-PESA Bill Management service. The innovation targets schools, landlords, utilities, and other businesses with repeat payments, offering a platform where they can present and receive pending payments from customers, and issue electronic receipts.

For M-PESA customers, the service offers a single point where they can view all their bills, receive reminders and automate the payment of bills.